Second half starts at WIU and IUPUI

The first half of The Summit League season came to an end
for South Dakota State on Saturday against Southern Utah, and along with the
first half, the Jackrabbits season-long six match losing streak ended with a
3-1 win over the Thunderbirds.

With the streak over and the Jacks back on the winning
track, SDSU now looks to carry that momentum into the second half of the season,
starting this weekend with matches at Western Illinois on Friday and at
IUPUI on Saturday. Both matches begin at 7 p.m. local time.

Ellyce Youngren tied a season-high with 14 kills to lead the
Jackrabbits against Southern Utah, and added a match-high four block assists.
She also finished with a solo block, six digs and a pair of service aces. Kelli
Fiegen hit .500 in the match, posting 13 kills in 24 swings with just one
error. She also finished with two of the Jacks eight aces.

Kaitlin Klingemann added 12 kills in the win, while Shay
Birath led the defense with 21 digs. Lexi Fowler completed her fourth straight
double-double, and seventh of the season, with 42 assists and 15 digs.

Fiegen led the Jacks through the first half of the season
with 262 kills, with a .347 hitting percentage (262-64-570) and with 78 total
blocks. Klingemann ranks second on the team with 196 kills and adds 44 blocks.
Ellyce Youngren starts the second half with 163 kills, 119 digs and ranks
second on the team with 48 blocks.

Shay Birath leads the defense with 392 digs, while Lexi
Fowler leads the way with 769 set assists. Fowler also adds 168 digs, and leads
the team with seven double-doubles.

THE JACKRABBIT EXTRA
ON GoJacks.com - Subscribers to the Jackrabbit Extra on GoJacks.com can
watch to all SDSU home and select road volleyball matches streaming live on the
internet.

To subscribe to the Jackrabbit Extra, log onto GoJacks.com,
select Jackrabbit Extra on the Audio/Video tab and click on "SIGN UP
NOW"

THE JACKRABBIT
INSIDER ON FOX - Fans of South Dakota State Athletics can get a weekly
behind-the-scenes look at all 21 Jackrabbit varsity sports teams by tuning into
"The Jackrabbit Insider."

Hosted by Tyler Merriam, the show airs on Sundays on
KTTW FOX 17 at 10:30 p.m., and can also be seen on Fox Sports North at 6 p.m.
on Tuesdays.

BIRATH NAMED
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK - Shay Birath captured her third career
defensive player of the week honor on Sept. 19, after posting two double-digit
dig matches on the weekend. She started league play with a 28-dig and
three-service ace match in a five-set win over IUPUI, followed up by 19 digs in
a sweep of Western Illinois. For the weekend, Birath tallied 47 digs, averaging
5.88 digs per set and three aces.

BIRATH and FIEGEN
NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM - Juniors Shay Birath and Kelli Fiegen both
earned all-tournament team honors after leading the Jacks to a 3-1 record at
the season-opening SpringHill Suites Invitational hosted by Georgia Southern.
Birath led the Jacks with 81 digs and added four services aces, while Fiegen
led SDSU with 54 kills, a .357 hitting percentage and 10 total blocks.

KLINGEMANN and FIEGEN
NAMED TO ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM - Juniors Kaitlin Klingemann and Kelli Fiegen
both earned all-tournament team honors after leading the Jacks to a 2-1 record
at the Jayhawk Invitational hosted by Kansas. Klingemann recorded 21 kills nine
digs and six block assists in the three matches, while Fiegen led the Jacks
with 34 kills, a .368 hitting percentage and 13 total blocks.

FIEGEN NAMED TO
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM - Kelli Fiegen posted 57 kills, including a career-high
22 against Arkansas State, over the weekend at the Dr. Mary Jo Wynn
Invitational hosted by Missouri State and added 16 total blocks, six solo and
10 block assists, all of which earned her all-tournament team honors for the
third weekend in a row.

FIEGEN SWINGS HERSELF
TO 4-SET RECORD - Kelli Fiegen led SDSU with 17 kills in the Jacks 3-1 win
over Belmont on Sept. 3, and set a new SDSU 4-set hitting percentage record in
the process with 17 kills and no errors in 22 swings, good for a .773 attack
percentage. Fiegen breaks the mark of .667 (13-1-18) set by Emily Rooney at Sam
Houston State on Sept. 1, 2007.

YOUNGREN JOINS THE
1,000-Kills CLUB - Jackrabbit senior Ellyce Youngren entered the 2011
season with 903 career kills, 97 shy of becoming the 14th member of the SDSU
1,000-Kills Club. Her smash down the right line in the Jacks 3-2 win over
IUPUI on Sept. 16, not only gave the Jacks the third-set win, but it gave her
exactly 1,000 kills for her career. She enters this weekend with 1,066 kills,
71 shy of passing Lisa Freichels (1,137 kills from 1989-93) for 13th all-time
at SDSU

FIEGEN CHASING 1,000
KILL MILESTONE - Kelli Fiegen would need to top her season-best mark of 352
kills, set in 2010, by five kills to reach the 1,000 kill milestone, but if the
defending Summit League Player of the Year can record 95 more kills this
season, she would not only become the 15th member of the 1,000-Kills Club, but
also become the sixth member to reach the mark as a junior.

BIRATH JOINS THE
1,000-DIGS CLUB - Shay Birath took over the starting libero spot as a
sophomore in 2010 and led the team with 556 digs, which boosted her career
total to 712 and left her 288 digs shy of becoming the 13th member of the SDSU
1,000-Digs Club, and just the fifth member of the club to reach the milestone
as a junior. Birath joined the club on Sept. 24, at Oakland, and enters the
weekend with 1,104 career digs, good for 11th all-time at SDSU.

THIS WEEK'S COMPETITION

Western Illinois
Fighting Leathernecks (9-10, 2-7 Summit) - Western Illinois struggled to a
2-7 record in its first trip through The Summit League, with wins at home
against Oakland and on the road at UMKC being the Fighting Leathernecks only
league victories.

Cait Egan led the
Leathernecks through the first half of the season with 190 kills and 51 total
blocks. Ann Miller and Katie Hosteng both enter the weekend with 179 kills,
with Miller adding 242 digs and 21 total blocks and Hosteng adding 27 blocks.

Bridget Murphy
leads the team with 394 digs, Sarah Fetter leads the way with 610 set assists,
while Molly Murphy leads the team with 32 aces.

The Series vs.
Western Illinois - The Jackrabbits lead the all-time series 9-1 after
sweeping the season series in 2010 for the second straight season and downing
the Fighting Leathernecks 3-0 on Sept. 17. The lone Western Illinois win in the
series came on Nov. 1, 2008, a 3-0 sweep in Macomb, Ill.

The First Meeting,
Sept, 17; Frost Arena - SDSU closed its Summit League opening weekend with
a 3-0 win over Western Illinois, cruising to 25-16 and 25-18 wins in the first
two sets and then coming from behind to win the third set 29-27.

Kelli Fiegen led the Jackrabbit attack with 10 kills and
just one error in 20 swings for a .450 hitting percentage. Fiegen also added
three block assists and a pair of solo blocks. Bailey Philippot tied for
team-high honors with 10 kills off the bench and added a trio of block assists
as well. Kaitlin Klingemann pitched in with eight kills, with a match-high four
block assists and a pair of service aces.

Shay Birath led the Jackrabbit defense with 19 digs, Kelly
Herrmann added 10 digs to go along with her nine kills.

Samantha Fournier led all players in the match with 14
kills, while Ann Miller added 11 kills and 12 digs in the loss.

IUPUI Jaguars (10-10,
5-4 Summit) - The Jaguars opened The Summit League season with four
straight losses, but bounced back in a big way, rattling off five straight
league wins to end the first half and keep themselves in contention for one of
the four conference tournament spots.

Moriah Fair leads the charge for IUPUI, and enters the
weekend with 214 kills, 123 digs and 42 blocks. Kalyse Reimbold ranks second on
the team with 187 kills and adds, 116 digs and 11 service aces. Kelsey Hoefer
finished the first half with 160 kills and 47 blocks, which ranks second on the
team behind Kortni Wright and her 53 blocks.

Shari Bernhardt leads the Jags defense with 393 digs and
with 18 aces and Alexis Meeks leads the team with 698 set assits.

The Series vs. IUPUI
- The Jackrabbits lead the all-timer series 6-3, after a 3-2 win in the
conference opener on Sept. The Jacks and Jags split the 2010 season series,
with each team winning on its home floor. IUPUI won the first meeting 3-0 on
Oct. 9, in Indianapolis, while SDSU held on for a 3-2 victory on Oct. 22 at
Frost Arena.

The First Meeting,
Sept, 16; Frost Arena - SDSU got off to a bit of a slow start in its Summit
League opener against IUPUI, but an Ellyce Youngren kill not only ended the
third set for a 25-21 Jackrabbit win, but it also rallied her team and put her
in elite company as the 14th member of the SDSU 1,000-Kills Club. The Jacks
rolled from there, winning the fourth set 25-21 and the fifth set 15-6.

Kaitlin Klingemann led the Jacks with 17 kills, Kelli Fiegen
added 15, while Youngren and Kelly Herrmann both finished with 10. Herrmann
added 20 digs for her fourth career double-double. Lexi Fowler finished the
match with a career-high 53 set assists and added 11 digs for her second career
double-double. Shay Birath led the defense with 28 digs.

NEXT UP FOR THE
JACKRABBITS - The Jackrabbits return home to Frost Arena for six of their
final nine matches this season, starting with a Friday night affair against
Oakland, followed by a Saturday match with IPFW. Both contests begin at 7
p.m.